Board game apparatus



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Filec March 5, 1947 LE ROY HOWARD BOARD GAME APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet lJan 17, 1950 LE ROY HOWARD BOARD GAME APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMarch 5, 1947 Www).

,2 l m f SM qf.. M M :UEW Q @Sgm MTW@ w w mgm mom 'Eofney's LE ROYHOWARD BOARD GAME APPARATUS Jan. 17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March5, 1947 Patented Jan. 17, 195() BOARD GAME APPARATUS Le Roy Howard,Beverly, Mass., assignor to Parker Brothers, Inc., Salem, Mass., acorporation of Maine Application March 5, 1947, Serial No. 734,931

10 Claims. 1

This invention relates to board game apparatus.

In order that the principle of the invention may be readily understood,a single embodiment thereof is disclosed in the accompanying drawings,wherein- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the entire apparatus, including thepackaging boX, with cover removed, showing the several parts or elementsin their assembled position in the box prior to play;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the playing board with the playing pieces intheir proper position for beginning the play;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the leader or Pharaoh and one common man ofeach of the two sets of colored pieces;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the dice employed in playing the game;

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the two paths of play of the opposing setsof playing pieces; and

Fig. 6 on a greatly reduced scale represents a modicaton showing theplaying board marked for four players.

A board game called Sonet originated in Egypt some four thousand yearsor more ago and is believed to have been the favorite game of thePharaohs and their subjects, as indicated by mural paintings found inexcavations of ancient temples and tombs, but of what that game actuallyconsisted or how it was played is unknown and can only be conjectured.

The present invention, introduced upon the market as Senet, is, however,original with the present applicant though having as an underlying orbasic feature a playing board along spaces of which pieces are movedsubject to being taken or captured by opposing pieces of the otherplayer, and which may have been the general 'scheme Vof play in suchvague disclosures of the ancient Egyptian game of Senet as have beendiscovered.

In the novel game herein disclosed there is provided a board having thegeneral shape of, but larger than, the usual lCribbage board anddiffering entirely therefrom in all other respects. The board of thepresent invention is provided with three parallel longitudinal rows eachdivided along its length into an equal number o'f spa-Ces, which are tenin the present embodiment of the invention. Each of the ten or othernumber of spaces of the two outer rows desirably has a singlepiece-receiving hole `or socket, but e'ach of the spaces of the middle'or intermediate row has two piece-receiving holes or sockets, one forplaying pieces of one player and the oth-er for playing pieces of theother player only., "The said two outer rows constitute sae'ty rows for'the pieces of the two players respectively and the middle orintermediate row constitutes the taking row for the opposing pieces ofthe two players and may be referred to as the Senet row. The playingpieces of one player may not enter the safety row of the other player.Thus each player has a continuous substantially elliptically shaped pathof play, and it is only where these two paths extend along the Senet rowvthat pieces can be taken.

The playing pieces preferably consist of two sets of five pieces each,which sets are contrasted with each other as by distinctive coloring.There are also provided dice or the like constituting the chance elementand preferably there are two pairs of ordinary dice provided, one pairfor each player.

`Referring only 'to the disclosed embodiment of the invention, to whichthe invention is not limited excepting as set forth in the claims, thefive playing pieces for each of the two players comprise a leader or'so-called Pharaoh and four common men. Preferably all these playingpieces are formed as long pegs ior insertion in the holes or sockets ofthe playing board. The pieces known as common men have each a head orother suitable enlargement and the leader or Pharaoh is preferablydistinguished by being double tipped, that is, by having a head oi twicethe height of the head of each common man.

Within the scope of the invention the playing pieces may be otherwiseconstructed and the leader-s or Pharaohs may be distinguished from thecommon men otherwise than by being double tipped. Furthermore within thebroad scope of the invention, it is not essential that the playingpieces be formed as pegs to be received in holes or sockets in thespaces of the playing board, but preferably the playing pieces areformed as pegs and are received in the playing holes or sockets of theplaying board.

According to the preferred manner of playing the game, the appropriateleader or Pharaoh of a player is at the outset of the game pegged intothe right-hand corner space of the outer row of each of the two playerswho face each other at opposite sides of the board, and the four commonmen are pegged into the holes of the next four spaces toward the left ofeach player, thus leaving unoccupied the ve remaining spaces of each oithe two `outer rows at the left of each player and also the middle row.The two outer rows constitute safety rows. In the playing of the game,and in accordance with the throw of the dice after the leadership isVdetermined as by the higher dice throw, the first player moves one ortwo of his pieces toward his left and thence into the middle row if thedice so determine, but entering only the distinctively marked holesprovided only for his playing pieces in such middle row. One such piecemay be moved by him a distance indicated by the sum of the two dicethrown by a player, or two pieces may be moved by such player, each tothe extent of the number indicated by either one of his two dice, butthe number indicated on either one of the dice cannot itself be sp1it,but must be used in its entirety for the movement of playing piece towhich it is applied.

The common men of each player may move only in a forward direction, thatis, to such players left along the outer row of that player and then,upon entering the left-most space of the middle row, may move only tothat players right along such middle row, but in the holes only for thatplayer, and, having reached the last or righthand space of the middlerow for that player, they re-enter the outer or safety row of thatplayer at the extreme right thereof. Thus the men of each player, unlesstaken while they are traveling along the middle row, move in acontinuous circuit, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5.

While the playing pieces of the two players, or of either of them, movealong the middle row, but only in the respective holes for the playingpieces of the players in the middle row, the playing pieces of eachplayer are subject to be taken or captured by playing pieces of theother player. This taking or capturing occurs when either a Pharaoh or acommon man of one player ends his move in the corresponding hole of thespace wherein a playing piece of the other player is pegged in that samespace, but in the hole for that other player, or when the first counteddie of that throw carries a piece of the player to such hole. That is tosay, inasmuch as each space of the middle row is provided with twoholes, one for pieces of one player and the other for pieces of thesecond player, the taking occurs when a piece of one player is enteredby him in his move or turn of play into his hole of a space, and thereis already there in that space a playing piece of the other player inthe other hole of that same space. That last referred to playing pieceis thereby taken and is removed from the board.

There are directional markings provided to show the course of movementof the pieces of the two players and preferably such markings consist ofarrows colored to accord with the colors of the two sets of playingpieces respectively, and preferably enveloping or surrounding the holesfor those pieces in the middle row, though the location of such markingsand their color may be suitably varied. Also the nal or left-hand spaceof the outer row of each player has a similar marking extending towardthe left and preferably continuing in attenuated form over into andjoining the described marking of the left-most or entering space of themiddle row.

It will be observed that the two sets of markings of the middle rowextend in opposite directions, inasmuch as the playing pieces of the twoplayers travel in opposite directions along said middle or taking row.It is to be understood, however, that while the common men may move onlyforward, the leaders or Pharaohs, when in the middle or taking orcapturing row, can move either forward or backward if the throw of aplayers dice permits him to do so, and in doing so he can jump over anyof his own men into an unoccupied hole, however, counting the spaceoccupied by the man of his color.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein the colors areindicated in accordance with the chart for draftsmen in the UnitedStates Patent Office Rules of Practice, the playing board is indicatedgenerally at I in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. It is provided with three rows 2, 3,Il, each having ten spaces generally indicated at 5, 6, 1, respectively,the rows 2 and 4 constituting the outer or safety rows and the middlerow 3 constituting the taking or Senet row. Each space of the outer orsafety row 2 is provided with one, preferably centrally positioned, holeor socket 5a. Each space o-f the outer or safety row 4 is similarlyprovided with a single hole or socket la, and each space of the middle,taking or Senet row is provided with two holes or sockets 6a, 6brespectively. 'Ihe series of holes or sockets 6a and 6b are preferablyeach in longitudinal alignment nearer the outer or safety row with whichthey are alone associated in play.

Preferably a series of arrows or other markings 8 are provided along theSenet row 3 adjacent to and if desired surrounding the holes or sockets6a, 6b pertaining to the respective playing pieces. Such arrows or othermarkings 8 are provided to indi-cate the direction of movement of thetwoi sets of playing pieces respectively, and, as indicated in Figs. l,2 and 5, there are arrows 8 at each end portion of the continuous track,path or course of each set of playing pieces to indicate that anysurviving playing pieces move from the right-hand end of a playerstrack, path or course in the Senet row 3 into the righthand end of thesafety row of that player and again emerge from the left-hand end of thesafety row of that player into the taking or Senet row 3, and so onuntil all the pieces of one player are taken.

The playing pieces are ve in number for each of the two players, two ofeach of the sets of the playing pieces, namely, a common man and aPharaoh being shown in Fig. 3. All ve of the playing pieces of eachplayer are shown in Fig. 2 in their starting position at thecommencement of the play. Those of one player, which may be colored red,are indicated at 9, I0, II, I2, I3 and those of the other player, whichmay be colored yellow, are indicated at I4, I5, I6, I'I and I8.

'Ihe said playing pieces are shown as elongated pegs, the common meneach preferably having a head of the height shown and each leader orPharaoh having a head of contrasting shape, being preferably twice theheight of the head of a common man.

Each of the players is provided with two dice I9 and 20 respectively, asindicated in Fig. 1, one of the dice being shown in Fig. 4. Desirablyall the elements or parts of the game, when the playing is not inprogress, are placed in a shallow box 2| provided with a suitable cover.The playing board I is preferably centrally positioned therein as shownin Fig. 1, and at either side of the playing board I there arepreferably arranged card-board pieces having downturned edges, in whichsuitable slits may be provided for receiving the playing pieces and thedice I9, 2U, as shown in Fig. 1. The reason for the provision of the twoholes in each space in the middle, taking or Senet row is to provideroom for opposing playing pieces to pass by one another, each on its ownseparate path or course,

but at ne time may a playing piece 'of either player occupy any hole orsocket in the path or course of the other player. Each of the said twopaths is continuons and during the playing of the game one or more ofthe playing pieces of a player may suceeed in making several circuitsaround his own path before the gaine is finished by the capture of thelast playing piece of his oppone-nt.

The position of the several pieces at the 'commenoei'nent of the playhas been described vand is shown in Fig. 2, the proper Pharaoh or leaderbeing placed in the righteh'a'nd corner of each player in his safety row2 or 4. Preferably the dioe are rolled to determine the starting player,the one rolling the higher moving r'st. The starting 'player now rollsagain and moves. If the throw at any time be Doubles, this fact has nospecial significance. Either player may choose to combine the count ofboth dice as thrown by him or her, and move only one playing piece inone tiirn or may move two playing pieces, one for each die in one turn,but he must complete his move if possible. The common men may not movebackward 'at any time, and they may not pass another playing piece ofthe samev color. The Pharaoh, however, has greater power and may bemoved forward and also backward, but may be moved backward only when inthe middle, taking or Senet r'ow. A common man may capture the opposingPharaoh and, of course, the Pharaoh may capture any opposing playingpiece, but, as already indicated, no playing piece, not even thePharaoh, may move backward while on its own safety path or ro'w.Inasmuch as captures can be made only i'n the middle, taking or Senetrow, a shrewd player may choose to move at least one and perhaps twopieces out onto the middle, taking or Sen'et row early in the game inthe hope of capturing an opposing piece already in such row. Hisopponent, however, may be planning the same `campaign and the contestmay become intensely exciting.

When a common man of a player has reached the last space in the middle,taking or Senet row4 for his color (i. e. in his hole in the space atthe extreme right-hand of that player) such common man must remain inthat hole on that space until a oner has been thrown by that player,before such common man may be returned to the safety row of that player.If such 'common man has reached 'such end space by virtue of the counton one die and the reading of the other die is one, then such common manmay be moved 'into the first space of its safety row at once, therebyescaping possible capture for a while. However, such rst space in suchsafety row must be unoccupied at the time to permit such common man tobe moved into it. Otherwise the move cannot be made at such time andsome other piece must be moved instead or the play must be forfeited. Aplayers move is forfeited if he cannot use the complete count for eitherdie. That is to say there may not be sufilcient distance between theplaying pieces of such player to permit playing the complete count forat least one die. For example, such player may roll a rive and six, butthere may be only four spaces separating his pieces. Therefore, he can-'not move unless he 'can move his leading common man or his Pharaoh intothe middle, taking or Senet row, and he therefore forfeits that move andhis turn in question ends. However, if it is at `all possible 1to make amove it must be done 6 even if this means moving the Pharaoh into adangerous position, that is, into the middle, taking or Senet row.

The Pharaon has certain privil-ig'es not pessessed by the common men. lAPharaoh may pass any common man of his owin color anywhere on hisplaying path or coiirse, whether in his safety row or in the middle,taking or Senet row. As stated, the Pharaoh may move forward 'andbackward, but his power to move backward is possessed only while he ison the middle, taking or Senet row. rIhe Pharaoh may move forward as theresult of the rolling of vone die and immediately move backward becauseof the rolling of the other die on that turn, but neither a Pharaoh nora common man may split the count of either die.

Finally, the Pharaoh is privileged to move, if the dice thrown allows,from the middle, taking or Senet row to his own safety row in Vone turnwithout waiting for a one to be turned up by a die, which is contrary tothe power of the common men as above stated. When a player has lost hisPharaoh and al1 of his common men but one, that one common man assumesall the powers and privileges of a Pharaoh. v s

The winner of the game is the player who iirst captures and removes allof his opponents playing pieces from the board. If desired, specialmethods of scoring may be resorted to. For eX- ample, according to onemanner of scoring, a Pharaoh saved from capture counts 25 and eachcommon man saved from capture counts l0 for the winner, the opponent, ofcourse, getting no points, and if all five of an opponents playingpieces have been captured without the loss of any one of the winnersplaying pieces, the score for the winner is doubled.

This game has been described as for two players and that is thepreferred embodiment thereof. It may, however, be so constructed andarranged on a, considerably larger board as to be played by three ormore persons, the board in such case having for each player a safetypath or row onstituting part of the track or course, and a taking row orportion of track for each playerlextending in substantial parallelism orproximity to the corresponding portion of the track or course of each ofthe other players, and in such case the track or course of each of theplayers would be con'. tinuous as in the preferred embodiment, and eachplayer would have playing pieces as in the preferred embodiment.

If the board is arranged for four players, it

" would preferably be square, and the four players would be arrangedabout it at the four sides thereof. The safety path vor row for eachplayer would extend in parallelism with his side of the board, and hisSenet or taking row would con stitute two sides of an equilateraltriangle, the base of which is his safety row. Thus the respective sidesof the four triangles would all extend to or nearly to the actual centerof the board, and in such embodiment of the invention the four Senetrows would be arranged like a St. Andrewys eross, along the four arms ofwhich the pieces of the players would move in respectively oppositedirections to each other. Each player would move his pieces to the leftof his triangle where his pieces would be subject to being taken by hisopponent to his left, then along the other side of his triangle wherehis pieces would be subject to heing vtaken by hisopponent to his right,and then into his own safety row if he escapes capture.

Each arm or part of his Senet or taking path is parallel with an arm ofhis opponents Senet path, both to the right and to the left, and each ofthese four inclined paths (which constitute the two diagonals of theboard) would be divided into an equal number of spaces, such as ten, andeach such space would have two holes or sockets, as in Figs. 1, 2 and 5.Such a board formed and delineated for four players is shown in Fig. 6wherein the safety paths or rows for the four players are shown at 2 I,22, 23 and 24 and the Senet or taking paths at 25, 26, 21 and 28.

Having thus described two illustrative embodiments of the invention, itis to be understood that although specific terms are employed, they areused in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes oflimitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In a piece-taking board-game apparatus adapted to be played by twoplayers, each having a plurality of pieces until all pieces of oneplayer are captured and involving the use of a chancemovement-determining device or devices; a playing board of rectangularelongated form having marked thereon three adjacent, parallel, straightrows lengthwise said board and constituting the marked part of theplaying field, said three rows having their respective ends insubstantially coterminous alignment transversely of the playing boardand adjacent opposite ends thereof, said playing board as so markeddelineating two opposite, outer, safety rows for the pieces of the twoplayers respectively, and an intermediate or taking row, each of saidthree rows being divided into an equal number of spaces, each of thespaces of the two outer safety rows having only a single piece-receivinghole for the pieces of only one of the two players, and each of thespaces of the said intermediate or taking row having two piece-receivingholes for the pieces of the two players respectively.

2. A board game apparatus in accordance with claim 1, but wherein thesaid intermediate or taking row has entering indications at the oppositeends for entering into said intermediate or taking row of the playingpieces of the two players respectively, at said opposite ends.

3. A board game apparatus in accordance with claim l, but wherein eachof the spaces of the intermediate or taking row has indications thereatfor the reception in different parts of said corresponding spaces ofplaying pieces of the two players respectively.

4. A board game apparatus in accordance with claim 1, but wherein thesaid intermediate or taking row has directional indications thereon thatthe playing pieces of the two players are to move only in respectivelyopposite directions along said intermediate row.

5. A board game apparatus in accordance with claim 1, but wherein thesaid intermediate or taking row has directional indications thereon thatthe playing pieces of the two players are to move only in respectivelyopposite directions along said intermediate row, and also havingdirectional indications that the playing pieces of the respectiveplayers move only from the terminal end of such players safety row, intothe said intermediate or taking row, at the adjoining end thereof.

6. A board game apparatus in accordance with claim 1, but wherein thetwo piece-receiving holes, in each of the spaces of the intermediate ortaking row, for the pieces of the two players respectively are inalignment transversely of the board.

7. A board game apparatus in accordance with claim 1, but wherein thesaid three straight rows respectively laterally adjoin and constitutethe marked part of the playing field of the board.

8. In a piece-taking board-game apparatus adapted to be played by aplurality of players each having a plurality of pieces until all piecesof an opponent or opponents are taken, and involving the use of a chancemovement-determining device or devices: a playing board having markedthereon a plurality of safety rows corresponding in number to the numberof players and each pertaining respectively to a single player only, andalso having a common taking row for each two next adjacent players, eachtaking row having two ends which are respectively coterminous with andadjoin the two ends of the safety row of a player, each of the saidsafety rows and each taking row being divided into an equal number ofspaces, each of the said spaces of the safety rows having a singlepiece-receiving hole only for the pieces of one only of the players, andeach of the spaces of any taking row having two piece-receiving holesfor the pieces respectively of a player and an opposing player.

9. In a board game apparatus for four players, each having a pluralityof playing pieces including a contrasting piece, and involving the useof a chance movement-determining device or devices: a square boardhaving a safety track or course for each only of the four playersrespectively, and each extending in proximity to and parallel with oneouter edge only of the board, thesaid four safety tracks or coursesbeing each divided into the same number of successive spaces, a takingtrack or course for each player connected to both ends of that playerssafety track or course and constituting two sides of an equilateraltriangle, of which that players safety track is the base, and extendinginward in a diagonal direction from the respective corner portions ofthe board so as to meet at their apices in the center of the board forcontinuous play by each player around his own triangular path only, andso that from the respective corners of the board to the center thereofeach portion of a taking track or course is common only to two nextadjacent players, the said four taking tracks or courses being eachdivided into an equal number of spaces, each of the spaces of the safetytracks or courses having a socket therein to receive the stem of playingpieces of that player only, and each of the spaces of the taking tracksor courses having therein two sockets to receive respectively the stemsof the playing pieces of the next adjacent players at either hand.

10. In a board game apparatus for two players, each using a set ofplaying pieces, including one piece differentiated from the others ofthat set, and wherein a chance movement-determining device or devicesare employed: a rectangular, elongated board having three, closelyadjacent, parallel rows each divided into an equal number of spaces,each of the spaces of the two outer rows having a single peg orpiece-receiving hole, and each of the spaces of the middle orintermediate row having two pegs or piece-receiving holes, one forplaying pegs or pieces of one of the players only, and the other forplaying pegs or pieces of the other player only, the said two outer rowsof spaces constituting safety rows for the pegs or pieces of the twoplayers respectively, and the middle or intermediate row of spacesconstituting the taking row for the pegs or pieces of the Number twoplayers. 463,425 LE ROY HOWARD. 715,794 1,242,969 REFERENCES CITED 51,415,556 The following references are of record in the 15271219 le ofthis patent: UNITED STATES PATENTS 211461631 Number Name Date l02,223,175

436,310 Hoyt Sept. 9, 1890 Name Date Law Nov. 17, 1891 Haskell Dec. 16,1902 Parker Oct. 16, 1917 Havsha May 16, 1922 Potter Feb. 24, 1925Lesavoy May 10, 1927 Walker July 1, 1930 Kish Feb. 7, 1939 Ink Nov. 26,1940

